Biography

James Madison Cutts, born on Cutts Island, near Saco, Maine, 29 July 1805; died in Washington, D.C., 11 May 1863. He was educated in Washington, and was destined for the bar, but the war of 1812 swept away much of his father's property and young Cutts, then a student in William Wirt's office, was compelled to give up his studies. He was appointed in the treasury department, becoming chief clerk in the second comptroller's office and ultimately, during Buchanan's administration, second comptroller. This office he held until his death, through the administration of President Lincoln.

He married Ellen Elizabeth O'Neal on 17 Dec 1833 at Montpelier in Orange County, Virginia, the family home of the Madison family.

His daughter Adele married, first, Senator Stephen A. Douglas, and, several years after his death, Colonel Robert Williams, U.S. Army.